The Tinkerer Chronicles: Dale Against the Universe

Part One

Not every day is always a good one when traversing the infinite dimensional corridor. Sure, the worlds are amazing and beautiful; but they can be deadly and dangerous all the same. However, in this case, it wasn't so much as the world we encountered, but the thing we brought to it.

It had happened one journey we made to one of the realms that were influenced by the ongoing Cyber War – an interdimensional conflict in which sentient machines battle against each other or a human resistance of some kind. It began with the Cybermen, who tapped into the Infinite DC and began cyber-converting within each of the worlds. And then, one day, they received more than they bargained for when they encountered Skynet, a highly-advanced, self-aware computer system possessing artificial intelligence.

The encounter also granted Skynet access to the Infinite DC, expanding on their goal for the extermination of mankind while also eradicating the threat of the Cybermen in its path.

The whole ordeal has gone on for a number of eons across multiple worlds.

The genesis of it has been a mystery for Neas and myself. We thought it began in the realm where we and the Doctor constructed a cyborg law enforcer named "Robocop," not very long ago. As we and our companion, Al-Lee Kirsch, investigated over the realms, we found several possibilities of how it started – any of them being the opportune place to end the war.

The one reality we came to had a corporation by the name of CRS ("Cyber Research Systems"), which carried possession of Skynet from a defunct Cyberdyne Systems – the one constant throughout the multiversal war. CRS was in the closing stages of fully developing Skynet, which left Neas, Al-Lee, and me very little time to stop them.

Unfortunately, our objective was severely derailed when we were discovered and taken into custody. We were put into a plain, windowless room with a single steel table and chairs. I briefly got into it with the overly aggressive guard who shoved me in. "Watch it, mister, or you're gonna lose those hands!" I warned him.

Clearly, I wasn't in my right frame of mind. The guy was bigger and brawnier than I was when I was in my "Skeeta" incarnation. As "Rania," I was shorter and skinnier, yet I still carried Skeeta's fiery temper.

Poor Neas had to step in between me and the guard. "Don't mind her," he told the guard. "She's just...a little on edge." He wasn't too far off the mark; I had been edgy the last few journeys. Once we were left alone, he confronted me. "Alright, Pop. What bug's been up your butt lately?"

I hated it when he phrased it that way. "It's nothing," I said.

"We both know that's not entirely true – not after you almost picked a fight with G.I. Joe back there," Neas scoffed.

His unrelenting prodding finally broke through my walls.

"It's the anniversary of when your mother and I married on our world," I revealed. Neas's mother being, of course, Kristin Curtsinger – an Earth woman I first met in my original incarnation, when I was a fresh-faced young explorer of the multiverse.

This news just made Neas feel guilty. "Why didn't you tell me? We could've stopped through home, so you two could catch up."

"Neas, the last time your mother saw me, I was a bald, heavyset African-American man. Could you imagine how she'd react if she saw me now?" I gestured to my overall figure, most of which was hidden by the white wool sweater I had on at the time. I then added, "Let's not forget you, too. Last she saw of you, you were just a teenaged girl."

That didn't deter him. "If she's already familiar with the whole 'regeneration' thing, why worry?" he asked.

"It's been ten years on our world!" I told him. "A lot more has changed than just us, sweetheart."